FHSU Dane Hansen Student Intern Reflection

My internship at the Concordia Chamber of Commerce in Concordia, KS has significantly improved my knowledge of businesses working together in a community. This experience has introduced me to what I am likely to encounter in a future marketing position my clients will consist of numerous businesses. Here, I learned about the importance of ensuring your members feel important in the Chamber and the community. The Chamber does this by inviting businesses to sign up to be a Chamber coffee sponsor where the business can speak about itself and upcoming events it may have. They also publish Chamber corners in the local newspaper, run radio advertisements, and give direct referrals to customers calling the Chamber.

Aside from my position at the college serving as a Student Digital Marketing Assistant, this was my first real position in the business realm. Before, I developed my hard skills in my positions as an independent painter, waitress, and pool manager. This internship helped me develop my soft skills by achieving more knowledge about business but on another level. I had the opportunity to learn about a membership-driven business of over 160 members. Also, I gained experience in office tasks such as completing membership investment schedules, completing bank deposits, answering the phone, writing checks, and customer service.

I grew professionally in my career through the internship by constantly being surrounded by business leaders in the community. I learned how to balance professionalism while showcasing my personality. My confidence had improved too, which has been one of my goals this year. I was able to confidently speak on the phone with customers about the Chamber and converse with business leaders I have never met. As having many prior work experiences and two years of college underneath my feet, I was able to bring a variety of attractive skills to the Concordia Chamber of Commerce, specifically in advertising. I previously built a WIX e-commerce website for my mother’s business, Riverside Market. My proficiency in WIX translated to the complete rebuilding of the chamber’s website. I modernized the look, improved the navigation, developed a member directory system, showcased popular events, and integrated a blog for future use.

Videos are eye-catching elements that businesses need to integrate into their sites. That is exactly what I did for the Concordia Chamber of Commerce. I produced two testimonial videos including board members about how the Chamber has impacted their businesses. For these videos, I sat down with Annie, and together we came up with an overall goal of what message we wanted to send out. From there, we reached out to members to volunteer to be a part of our videos. I then developed a questionnaire for each volunteer with specific topics to speak about along with a scheduled time for recording. After the film was recorded, I edited the video and uploaded it to the website and Facebook page. It was a two-in-one advertising bonus both for the member business feature and speaking on behalf of the Chamber’s benefits.

I have created content both for personal use and my mother’s business but never had the opportunity to create on a business professional level. This internship gave me that opportunity. Overall, this internship exceeded my expectations, and the credit is all due to my boss, Annie Bergmann. She went above and beyond to teach me about business leadership and life lessons. She allowed me to take off with my creative flow and gave me feedback as I proceeded. It is a great feeling to receive trust in your abilities from your boss. I would highly recommend for any business majors apply to this specific internship for next summer. The first day I walked in we sat down together and discussed what I wanted to get out of this internship. She asked me what I needed to improve on for my resume. As a marketing major, I was able to grow my videography portfolio and website design skills. This has been a pleasure to work for the Concordia Chamber of Commerce and I want to thank Fort Hays State University for always providing its students with the best opportunities. This university never disappoints me.